Saturday, 1 May 2010

Apocalypse Now

The future annihilation of the human species is quite rightly one of the many topics which are not being covered in this election campaign, as it’s a lot of silly nonsense, innit? So take no notice of this, which is just a trick to stop us all flying and driving:

The Arctic is locked into a destructive cycle that could see its icy cover rapidly disappear, scientists have confirmed. A new analysis shows that dwindling levels of sea ice are responsible for unusual levels of global warming in the region. The findings reinforce suggestions that a positive feedback between ice loss and temperature rise has emerged in the Arctic, which increases the chances of further rapid ice loss and warming.

The study could re-ignite claims that the Arctic has passed a key tipping point, which could see ice disappear much sooner than expected. While most estimates say the summertime Arctic will not be ice-free until the middle of the century, some models suggest it could vanish within a decade.